Fever When You Kiss Me
by madmansmystery
Summary: "Simply get the male to inhale it, and it immediately releases its pollen into the air. Not harmful but it— well, when exposed to the pollen, the male gets attached to the first female he sees." The Doctor has an encounter with an alien flower. Clara is not amused. Eleven/Clara.
1. part one

**Part One**

* * *

><p>When Clara eagerly opened the TARDIS doors to see what lied behind them, she didn't quite expect to see the entire surface of the alien planet to be covered in a vast array of flowers.<p>

Her brows raised at the sight, taken aback, and that was when she was bombarded by the maddening smell. Her nose twitched and she barely managed to suppress a sneeze. To be honest, the view was nice and all, but she wasn't really _impressed_.

Clara turned to look at the Doctor, who was staring at her with rapt attention, mouth gaping wide and the lines of his forehead more pronounced than ever. It was obvious to see that he was waiting for her to jump in delight or gush over how lovely she thought the place was. Which didn't come as a surprise, as he usually did this; he _was_ rather full of himself, after all.

"Well?" he finally prompted, when the silence dragged on for too long. "What do you think, Clara?"

She turned back towards the planet, looked at him once more, and shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay."

"_Okay_?" His voice raised a pitch defensively. "_Okay_? Clara, this planet is by far one of the most visited out there! Lots of travelers come here because of the sights, not to mention the"—here he paused to take in the smell of the flowers in his own exaggerated way—"smell! And you think it's _okay_?"

"Not really a flower girl, Doctor," she said with another shrug of her shoulders. Her arms wound around themselves, tucking snugly under her elbows as she leaned against one of the open TARDIS doors. "Plus, my nose is a bit sensitive. The smell is nice but, well, pungent."

The Doctor sniffed at this, pride wounded, mumbling something under his breath about _impossible_ _girl_s and repeating the word pungent over and over. She had a feeling that her impossible girl title wasn't exactly a good thing this time around, but didn't care too much. In her opinion, his reaction was entertaining as per usual.

"Let's go elsewhere, then," he said, turning to enter the ship, but Clara stopped him, rolling her eyes. She knew that if she didn't, he would be in a _mood_ the entire trip. And she really didn't want him ruining this Wednesday for her.

"We can check it out, you big lug," she said. "No need to be so melodramatic."

"_I wasn't_—"

"Uh-huh. Of course not. Let's go."

"Hmph. _Fine_."

* * *

><p>All in all, the trip wasn't off to a bad start. The planet wasn't <em>horrible<em>. It really was gorgeous, with its rows and rows of different types of flowers. Just flowers, nothing else. The smell had been overwhelming but Clara got used to it eventually. In fact, she was a little glad she stopped the Doctor from whisking them away from here, but she'd never admit it.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a bunch of bright, blood red flowers, resembling tulips, and made her way to them. "Ooh, these ones are rather pretty. Could I possibly nick one—"

"Oi! Don't pluck any!" The Doctor interrupted quickly, slapping her hand away.

"_Ow_," she yelped, massaging her hand. Somewhat dramatically as the slap hadn't hurt, but _still_. "What was that for?"

"Plucking flowers here is _illegal_, Clara," he said, as if it should be common knowledge for her. "Do that and you get capital punishment." Here he took his thumb and swept it across his throat, making a very ridiculous face that was apparently supposed to look like a person dying a horrible death.

Clara frowned at the new information. "Yes, thank you for informing me of this _now_, Doctor."

"You're welcome," was his answer. Had he realized she was being sarcastic? "Now then, come along. Lots of flowers to gaze at, so little time."

"'So little time'?" she parroted questioningly. "We've got a time machine."

"Yes, well, this is getting a bit dull for my tastes. Not as much running as I'd like."

"There is never enough running for you," she scoffed, but followed him all the same.

"Not true!" he was quick to say. "There was one time..."

"Uh-huh. Go on."

"I'm _thinking_, Clara."

"Yes. And not coming up with anything."

Cue a dirty look thrown her way; however, it did nothing to damper her smile, her eyes locked straight on his. He was the first to look away.

"Shut up," the Time Lord mumbled sullenly, acting very much like Angie when she loses a fight, and walked a little faster. Clara frowned, trying to keep up. What a _child_.

The silence was short, for that was when Clara spied the most _lovely_ flowers she had ever seen. They were a soft petal pink, opening up beautifully with something yellow in the middle. Hard to describe, as she had a feeling they weren't found on Earth. Or, at least, not during her time.

She tugged on the Doctor's jacket, uncaring of his answering grumble. "Doctor! This way."

"Clara, what—?" he began, but she was already off. "Oh, _alright_." He came up from behind, stopping beside her. "Now, what is the— oh. Oh, hello there, beautiful."

Now it was Clara's turn to be confused. "Doctor?" The Time Lord had suddenly dropped to his hands and knees, inspecting the flower thoroughly at eye-level.

"Just getting a closer look," he told her over his shoulder. "It looks familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on when I saw it. Or what type of flower it is." Humming thoughtfully, he brought one of the flowers closer by its stem and sniffed it deeply.

Clara's eyes widened as a noise sounded, almost like a bag inflated with air being popped. Soon tiny balls of yellow—pollen, perhaps?—seemed to leave the flower, swirling near the Doctor. Some began moving towards her, and she cautiously began stepping back.

"_Doctor_?" she called out in alarm. What had happened? Was he hurt somehow? Could it be illegal to even _smell_ flowers here?

The Doctor coughed loudly, a hand swatting away the possible pollen madly, and got up from his crouch. "I'm alright, I'm alright," he said. It was followed closely by a sneeze. "Hadn't expected that."

"Yeah, I could tell," she said dryly, though concern was much too obvious in her tone. She cleared her throat quietly, pushing past it. "What _was _that? Pollen?"

"Would appear so," he said, surveying the flower, though now at a good distance. "It came from the centre of the flower...the yellow that looked like part of the colouring of the petals is gone." He hummed thoughtfully again, hand coming up to rub his chin. He always looked stupid doing that. "It's all _very _familiar."

"Familiar? Of what?"

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his hand dropped from his chin as he turned to look at her as if he had never seen her before. Much like when he had rang her doorbell a thousand times and gaped at her their first meeting (though it had been the third time he had encountered her, even if she had not known it then), wearing monk clothing. Clara raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh."

Her eyes narrowed. "'Oh' what?"

"The flower."

"Yes?"

"It's... I remember what type of flower it is now. And its properties."

"And?"

"And you might not like what I'm about to tell you." He paused, then said, "You _definitely_ will not like what I'm about to tell you."

"Doctor, what is it." Curiosity, and fear, was getting the better of her now.

"This particular flower is called tulrim. Not found on Earth, obviously. It's native to Upluna, where the males aren't exactly the most _faithful_. However, the females don't have much use for the males once the, ahem, mating process is over and done with. But when the females are pregnant, they are most vulnerable." The Doctor paused, sheepishly clearing his throat. "Tulrim comes into play then. Simply get the male to inhale it, and it immediately releases its pollen into the air. Not harmful but it— _well_, when exposed to the pollen, the male gets attached to the first female he sees."

Clara closed her eyes, trying to remain calm. "Define 'attached'."

"Uh, they tend to get clingy. And possessive. Very possessive." He winced after saying that, and his companion had the urge to just walk away from the situation entirely. But, unfortunately, that wasn't an option.

"Alright. Okay," she muttered, crossing her arms and trying to achieve some semblance of calm. "That's...fine. How long until the, the _effects _wash off?"

"Usually for the duration of the pregnancy. So about two weeks Earth-time."

She nodded slowly. "Great. What do we do?"

The Doctor cleared his throat unnecessarily. "Yes. Well. I don't think the effects are taking place. For me, I mean. Uplunians and Time Lords don't have the same physiology, biology, or—anything, really. It might not affect me at all. Or I might only end up with a mild cold." With this, he brought out the sonic screwdriver and waved it over himself as best he could, squinting at the glowing green end afterward. "Hmm."

"So?" she questioned, impatient.

"The sonic doesn't detect any changes. That doesn't make any sense. How could the tulrim _not_ affect me whatsoever?"

"Well, you said Uplunians and Time Lords aren't similar at all, yeah? That could explain it."

"But for it to have _no_ affect on me? It doesn't add up." The Doctor knocked the sonic against his forehead, frowning. "Think, Doctor. _Think_. What're you missing?"

Clara exhaled heavily. "Can we just go now, Doctor?" She didn't want to stick around the planet any longer. Who knew what other alien flower they might mistakenly stumble upon?

"Yes, yes," he mumbled, sounding sidetracked. Then he shook his head and, surprisingly, bent down again, plucking the offending flower from its stem.

Clara's eyes widened at the sight. "Doctor, what are you doing? You told me that plucking a flower equals capital punishment, remember?" She even imitated his previous motion of swiping his thumb across his neck, though didn't attempt the stupid expression.

"Yes, I did. Good, you were paying attention," he said quickly, beginning to walk towards the TARDIS rather hurriedly. Clara followed not far behind, struggling somewhat due to her vastly shorter legs. "But I need this flower, to examine it more thoroughly. I know I'm missing something."

"So what? You won't get capital punishment because you're a Time Lord or got—got—sprayed or whatever?"

"No, I'll still get capital punishment. But not if we get to the TARDIS within," he spared a glance at his watch, "oh, twenty seconds."

Barely a millisecond passed, and sirens began to blare, as if someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation. The Doctor grasped tightly onto Clara's hand and they were off, running at breakneck speed. The tulrim was resting in his other hand.

Thankfully, they made it into the TARDIS moments before the sirens were upon them, scanning for the possible perpetrators of the grave crime committed. However, their problems were far from over.

No, they had just begun.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Originally a short one-shot that was requested on Tumblr, but I decided to expand on it. I changed up the ending and edited/revised it a little. Not sure when the next part will be, but I have got a good chunk of this story planned out!

Anywhom, I hope you enjoyed this first bit. Please do favourite, follow, and/or review, as feedback would be much appreciated!


	2. part two

**Part Two**

* * *

><p>"What I don't understand is why you're not seeing this as a good thing," Clara said, arms crossed and leaning against one of the walls of the med bay. The Doctor was fiddling around with appliances, sonicing now and then, and mumbling under his breath constantly. "The pollen didn't affect you, nor did you end up with capital punishment. All in all, I'd say we got off lucky." She paused, thinking. "For once."<p>

"But _why_?" said the Doctor, hands running through his hair and making it stick up in various directions. "Why did it not affect me? I've run scans, Clara—proper ones! No anomalies, nothing unusual. And then there's something I'm missing."

She shrugged her shoulders, nonplussed. "Maybe you confused the flower with another one?"

The Doctor stopped his pacing, shooting her an offended look. "I can differentiate between _flowers_ and where they _come from_, Clara."

"Which was exactly why you didn't know anything about this tulrim or _whatever_ it's called, so you just went ahead and gave it a sniff."

"Yes, well...I've got a lot of knowledge swimming around in this big old head. It can be difficult to access the right one at the right time."

Clara grinned. "Looks like you proved my point then, eh?"

That earned her a frown. He opened and closed his mouth, as if trying his luck at a rebuttal. "Shut up, I'm thinking," he groused eventually, going back to pacing and wringing his hands, casting the tulrim long looks in between.

His companion let loose a loud exhale at the sight, knowing there was no way they could squeeze in another adventure without the Doctor being sidetracked by the current anomaly. "Well, could you at least drop me off? Figure this all out and pop back in next Wednesday, yeah?"

The Time Lord paused at that. "Oh, very well. Maybe when you're gone I'll be able to _focus_."

"Oi," she snapped, but he had already begun making his way to the TARDIS' console. She huffed and followed him.

"Why are you so curious about the flower anyway?" she questioned, watching as he began setting the coordinates.

"Because I don't understand," he replied. "Because I don't remember that _something_ I know I should. Because many reasons, really. But mostly—it's a mystery. Never could resist a mystery." With that, he turned to her and grinned goofily.

She returned the smile, even though it felt as if a lead weight had settled in the pit of her stomach at the words. A mystery, he had said, no doubt referring to the fact that he had met echoes of herself, flummoxed over what the connection between the three of them was. Maybe it had been cleared up now, but Clara couldn't help wonder if that had been all there was to it for him.

Best not think of it right then, with the Doctor scrutinizing her. Probably somehow able to tell something was wrong.

"Something wrong?" he asked, ironically enough.

"No, not at all." She shook her head, smiling weakly.

He nodded, accepting her word, and went back to the console. Sighing, the companion stared at the curved line of his back with a frown, and held onto the railing behind her for balance when instructed. The TARDIS lurched into movement through the time vortex and they were off.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day had not been all that interesting on Clara's end. Merely grading some papers and reworking the schedule she had made for one of her classes. It felt as if in no time at all the sun had went away and the stars made their way across the sky.<p>

She got ready for bed in her bathroom, setting her toothbrush back in its holder and entering the bedroom, when a figure standing in the dark room made her heart nearly skip a beat. The brunette shrieked, going to close the door and make a run for it.

"Clara, wait!"

It might have been a stupid move, but she did wait. Only because the voice was much too familiar. She squinted, trying to make out the shape, when she remembered the switch and flicked on the lights. Lo and behold, there he was.

"Doctor! What are you doing here?" she asked, annoyed. "You frightened me! I was ready to call the cops on you."

"I know, I know. I was—" he broke off, fingers intertwined yet still moving erratically. He shifted from one foot to another, as if uncomfortable. Which she was a little herself, considering he was standing in the middle of her _bedroom_ of all places. "I had to."

"You had to? What do you mean, you had to? You _had_ to scare me out of my wits?"

"The tulrim," he said, completely ignoring her. Oh, fine then. "I remembered what I forgot."

"Great," she said, leaning against the doorjamb. It seemed this could take a while; best get comfortable. "At least you won't be harping on about it next Wednesday. What's it got to do with this late night visit?"

"Tulrim don't affect Time Lords," he began, "not at first, at least. It takes longer to spread, to get used to a different species. And it also depends on which species it's latched onto."

"So...you mean it's going to work on you after all? You have that cold you were talking about?" She smirked at the thought of a sick Doctor. "I'm not taking care of you, if that's what you're going to ask. Might teach you not to do something like this next time, though you'll probably do it anyway."

The hesitant expression on his face was replaced by a frown dangerously bordering a pout. "You _wouldn't_ take care of me?"

"Of course not," she said. It was a bold lie, but lying to the Doctor had become second nature to her. "Since we now both know a cold isn't the actual problem, what is it?"

"And how do you know it isn't?"

"You certainly don't look sick, for a start. Maybe it's because sick Time Lords look different than sick humans, but I doubt that. Plus, you asked if I _wouldn't_ take care of you, not _won't_." She smirked superiorly. "English teacher, remember?"

A slow smile spread across the Doctor's face as he shook his head. "Can't get anything past you."

"'Course you can't. Now tell me what you remembered."

That knocked the smile right off. Back was the hesitant expression from before. "Yes, well. It does work on Time Lords. Seen it happen a handful of times, before. Never experienced it myself—until today." His hand came up to rub the back of his neck.

"So it happened to you? The—what was it you said—getting attached to the first female you see?"

Clara felt a little spark of jealousy, that he was going to be all _clingy_ and _obsessed_ with a girl. Not that she would be telling _him_ that. No, she was just going to make fun of him, which was what he no doubt expected her to do, and wait patiently for it to blow over. Then they could go back to normal, hopefully.

The Doctor nodded at her question, confirming it. "Yes, yes, exactly that, I'm afraid. So, I hope you don't mind...?"

"Why would I?" she asked sharply. "I don't. Mind, that is. Certainly not. But I have to ask: will you still be coming next Wednesday to pick me up?"

He blinked, looking taken aback. "Well, uh. The effects last for about half the time for Time Lords. So approximately a week. And since I'll be, er, _around here_, I won't exactly have to swing around to pick you up."

She shook her head, confused. "Now you've lost me, Doctor."

The Time Lord sighed. "The male gets attached to the first female he sees after the pollen is released," he recited. "When the pollen was released, the first female I saw was..." Here he broke off, hands flapping about, as he stared meaningfully her way.

Clara's brows furrowed, until realization hit and a quiet gasp left her lips. Her brows raised as she stared back at him. The Doctor grinned, looking immensely relieved that he didn't have to explain it further, and nodded vigorously.

She staggered into the room, walking past him. "You're..."

He turned to follow her. "Yes!"

Turning on her bedside lamp, she sat down on her bed. "And you have to..."

He nodded some more. "Stay here, yes."

She looked up at him, cradling her head. "For a _week_?"

"Approximately," he added. "But I've visited you at the Maitland's before!" Suddenly brightening up, the Time Lord pointed erratically at her. "You could think of this as a camping trip! Love a good camping trip."

"I've camped in my backyard as a little girl, but I don't believe this is the same thing, Doctor," she said sarcastically, then shook her head, frowning. "Oh well. Doesn't matter. Just a week. Shouldn't be too bad." And it wouldn't be. The Doctor would probably annoy her a little, itching to get back to the TARDIS and travel, but apart from that, it would be _fine_.

"Approximately a week," he corrected, "but yes. You're right. I'll only need to be around you, say, practically every second of the approximate week, and _strongly_ dislike other men interacting with you. Apart from that, everything should be good."

No, she couldn't have heard that right. "Sorry, what did you say?"

The Doctor looked sheepish. "Forgot about the specifics earlier."

"Yes!" she snapped. "Yes, you _did_."

"Well, you can't expect me to be one hundred percent correct all the time, Clara!"

Instead of snapping back, like she very much wanted to do, she ducked her head and shut her eyes. "It's going to be fine. After all, school's closed for most of next week," she murmured to herself. Meaning that perhaps, by some twist of fate, the school might _not_ be invaded by aliens or hiding aliens or part of some other nefarious alien scheme. But that did not exactly solve her dilemma, not entirely. "You can do this. You can. Of course you can do this."

"Could you speak up a bit? I can't quite make out the words."

Clara shot him a withering glare from underneath her bangs. "Doctor."

The Time Lord winced, hands rubbing together. "Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Needless to say, he did, but only for a short while as she tried to come to terms with what the Doctor said meant. The Doctor had never really been introduced to her life outside the TARDIS and whatever planet or city they visited on Wednesdays. His meeting Angie and Artie had been out of her control, and that had not gone exactly as planned either.

Though it had worked out, right? And he continued to visit them at the Maitland's, even on days that weren't a Wednesday.

Maybe it woudn't be as bad as she was thinking. She could, after all, be overreacting to the news. A clingy Doctor may not be all that desirable, but it seemed that his personality or mannerisms had not changed drastically. Things could work out the way she wished them to: without a hitch.

"Clara?" came the Doctor's voice. "Are you aright?"

"Yes," she replied, unsure whether it was a truth or a lie herself. "Now, are you going to have to...move in for a while?"

He nodded. "I'll have to sleep in here, actually."

"_What_."

The Time Lord cowered at her dark tone, hands coming up in surrender. "Tulrim!" he said. "Only because of the tulrim!"

She squinted at him. "If you believe I'm going to let you sleep in my bed _with_ me, you can think again."

"I wasn't! Honest! I don't even need as much sleep as you lot. Really, I'll probably be awake while you sleep. I just need to be in here. At the same time as you. Just to look at you and know you're there. Really."

"That—isn't better at all, Doctor." She grimaced at the thought of him watching her sleep.

He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Tulrim," he said, as if that magically explained everything. Which it kind of did, but she wanted to remain mad at him.

"Are you not, uh, yourself then? Because of the tulrim?"

"Oh, no. The tulrim does affect me, but I'm more or less normal."

"I beg to differ," she muttered, rolling her eyes when the Doctor pouted at her in response.

"As I said, not much has changed. Apart from, uh, needing to be around you at all times. Which is the purpose of tulrim; so that the females are protected during the two weeks of pregnancy, when they are unable to properly defend themselves."

"Yes, thank you for the lesson, Doctor," Clara said. "But, as you may or may not know, it's time for me to _sleep_." With that, she got up from the bed, flicked the light switch, and began pushing back the bed covers.

The Doctor wrung his hands. "Right, yes. You...do that." He looked around, spotted the small sofa lounging against the adjacent wall, and sat down gingerly. His hands tested its firmness, then he tried to lie down himself. The sofa, however, was much too small for him; when he rested his head against one of the arms, his legs dangled uselessly over the other.

Clara pressed her lips together, trying to suppress her smile, all settled comfortably under the covers. He could definitely get a crink in his neck, not to mention his back would be all out of sorts. Although, since he probably wouldn't be sleeping tonight, as he said, he certainly would be moving around a lot. One of his many irritating, yet strangely endearing, quirks.

"Goodnight, Doctor," she called out, unable to hide her amusement.

The Doctor threw her a sulky look, but didn't comment on it. "Goodnight, Clara."

Chuckling under her breath, she reached over and switched off her bedside lamp, before lying down. She could hear movement from the sofa already, though it wasn't loud enough to warrant a warning.

All in all, things weren't off to a bad start.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** A huge thank you to **e1evenc1ara**, **movegal102**, **CaylithTheGolden**, **BowtiesSouffles**, **Guest 1**, **LOTRPJOHP13133**, **Guest 2**, **loony-midgardian**, **Graduation Owl**, and **xxIcyAngelxx** for their lovely reviews!

I had not expected to write up this second part so quickly, but the feedback made this possible. Cross your fingers, so that the next update is as quick! Part three: the morning after, grocery shopping, and the tulrim begins to take a noticeable affect!

Thank you to everyone for reading, and do continue to favourite, follow, and/or review! It means a lot to me. :)


End file.
